German Event Discusses God as Parent to Humankind

Hamburg, Germany—Theologian and former Catholic priest Heinz Krcek was the speaker at a UPF program about the theoretical foundations for peace.

Mr. Krcek, an Ambassador for Peace from Austria, gave a talk titled “God’s Way to Humankind.” In his talk, presented on March 4, 2017, he referred to the UPF Peace Principle that “We are one human family created by God.” Understanding this is the best prerequisite for world peace in our time, he said.

All religions have tried to catch a glimpse of God, become closer to Him and get to know Him, Mr. Krcek said. Because humankind strayed from God, religions have tried to find the way back to Him.

“However,” he asked, “[is it] possible that humans are looking for God because God has always been looking for humans?” He quoted the Swiss theologian Emil Brunner, who in the 1930s wrote: “God’s real words are to be found right at the beginning of the Old Testament. It concerns the blessings that He gave to Adam and Eve. And everything subsequent is the sometimes more, sometimes less, successful story about God’s attempts to realize these blessings with humankind.”

Mr. Krcek described the events of the Old Testament up to the appearance of Jesus about two thousand years ago, when God made it clear to humans that reconciliation must be attempted through loving. As the brothers Jacob and Esau embraced each other after years of hatred, so Jesus asks his Heavenly Parent to forgive those who rejected him and sent him to the cross.

This is God’s direction to us: to do all in our power to practice peace and reconciliation in our world and to reach out to each other, Mr. Krcek said. “Since not one of us can claim not to have had parents, and neither can our ancestors, we then can conclude that also the first humans had parents, and that was God,” he explained.

Mr. Krcek grew up in Vienna in a Catholic family. In 1964, he was ordained as a priest and worked in education. In 1976, he encountered the Unification Principles, and in 1982 he left the monastery to invest himself in the international activities of the Unification movement, giving seminars and presentations. In 2013, his book Which Way, Please, to Paradise? was published by the Kando publishing company.

Ambassadors for Peace had traveled from Berlin to attend this discussion. After the presentation, there was an intense and lively exchange of ideas about cooperation between different local UPF groups within Germany.

We are an international and interreligious network of individuals and organizations, including representatives from religion, government, civil society and the private sector dedicated to achieving world peace. UPF supports the work of the United Nations, particularly in the areas of interfaith peacebuilding, peace education, and the strengthening of marriage and family.